Archive for June, 2008

Although politics is frowned upon as a topic of polite conversation, I’ve never seen anyone run screaming from the room at the mention of a presidential campaign. A more typical response would be a halfhearted laugh, followed by an uncomfortable silence during which each person tries to guess the political leanings of the other. I suppose the reaction in this strip would break the ice, though, and encourage people to loosen up. Let the civics begin!

It’s not surprising that this kid would turn out to be such a brat. Any child walking around an electronics store with enough cash to buy a video game is probably pretty spoiled. And this is just a guess, but I’m thinking that the proposed Grand Theft Auto purchase is intended to complete a collection, not start one. The outburst in panel three suggests that this is a child who’s used to getting what he wants, including violent video games.

That is one strong baby to be squeezing a loaf of bread so vigorously. Then again, sliced bread can be fragile. There are times when I’ve been grocery shopping only to find that my Brownberry has been crushed by my orange juice. If the bread is beyond repair, I’ll replace it with a fresh loaf. That’s not the most thoughtful thing to do, so I try to pack my cart carefully.

There’s a palpable sense of outrage on the part of the girl in this strip, punctuated by the folded arms in panels one and two. On top of that, the newsprint version made it appear that she had bags under her eyes in panel three, as if days had elapsed between panels and she had stood there, dumbfounded, trying to make sense of it all.

I’m a stranger to Chickenpox myself, even after a childhood afternoon spent playing tackle football with a friend who was afflicted. I’ve heard it’s a wretched disease and I hope I never have to suffer through it. But if I should be so unlucky, I’ll be sure to steer clear of graphic medical accounts. I’ll also avoid You’re Only Old Once, a book that, despite the objections of Hawthorne the Turtle, features Dr. Seuss waxing poetic about health care.

I never considered this ploy as a child, even though I lived with a grandmother who wore dentures. She soaked them in a glass every night, but there’s no way I would have handled synthetic gums, even for a cash reward. What would I have spent the money on anyway? Probably candy, which would have hastened my own need for dentures.

I’m really not buying this dog’s confusion about sex. Dogs have sex. Dogs hump legs. Dogs – as Bob Barker has reminded us thousands of times – need to be spayed or neutered. But what I do like about this strip is the punchline. Not only does the woman recite her headache line without looking up from her book, but the man’s striped shirt and squiggly bit of forehead hair give him the unmistakable air of Pepe Le Pew.